Taking care of yourself

It has been more than 10 years since I have been so sick. Despite all the smart foods, healthy diets, yoga and mindfulness, I still got sick. I am incredibly bummed because my schedule is not built for being sick. There is still so much to do. Discussions about new collaborations, expansion of the clinic, new texts for the website, introduction of new treatments...and so on. It is never convenient to be ill. Through this way also my sincere apologies because of all the appointments that had to be rescheduled. And I would like to thank my wonderful team who took care of everything.

Slowly throughout the week, the thought creeps up on me: 'Have I outdone myself?' 'Have I made too much of myself?' The longer I have the peace to think about it, the answer I was afraid of comes naturally. 'YES, I have not been taking good care of myself lately.' I can no longer deny it, because my body has put a stop to me. I was too busy chasing my dreams and did not allow myself time to rest. My body can no longer keep up with my mentality of 'always wanting to be the best' and it needs to rest.

This is so recognisable. All of us are chasing our ideals, but the answer is so close: BALANCE. Fortunately, a week of flu, got me thinking. The flu will pass again. My body will recover, but if I don't allow rest, my body will no doubt alert me in another way. That is why I am grateful for this flu period. It has made me think. It has taught me to take rest, to choose for myself and to take care of myself.

We have never been properly taught to take care of ourselves. Since birth, we depend on our parents and as soon as we are old enough to take care of ourselves, we get caught up in studies, work, relationships and obligations. It is always very easy to take care of others and put others' needs first. Thus, you slowly forget about yourself. Sometimes we almost feel guilty when we do something for ourselves. Crazy isn't that really? 'Me-time' should be a daily thing, right? And guess what. We make that decision ourselves!

We can choose to be more at peace ourselves. For me, this means less on my phone and more in nature. Choosing not to get lost in negative emotions and things that are not going well. But instead to focus on what is there and what does go well. We can choose to pamper ourselves with a day of doing nothing. Pampering yourself is not something that is allowed once in a while with high exception. On the contrary, it is something you want to do every day. For yourself.....Do you join in?

Love, Thanya